Dancing With The Dead

by Nancy McGovern

  Pointing at Finley, she said, “You…you were at a pharmacy when the murder took place, is that right?”

  Finley nodded.

  “And you…” Nora said to Lucas, “were asleep in your room and Harvey or I would have seen or heard you go in or out.”

  Lucas nodded.

  “Viola, you were asleep in your room. As were Eugenie and Dave. All three of you could have done it. Well, not Eugenie or Dave, since you took sleeping pills. You had a ready excuse.”

  “But Aunt Eugenie said she didn’t take her sleeping pills that night.” Jacob said.

  Eugenie shot a cold look at Jacob.

  “Ah, yes.” Nora nodded. “That is true. But that brings us to you, Jacob. You were the one with the weakest alibi. In the kitchen getting a glass of water? From the beginning I couldn’t quite believe that story.”

  Jacob hung his head.

  “So when you confessed to Grace that you’d actually been with Ramona then, I believed you immediately,” Nora said. “What I didn’t believe was your story about not knowing Bobby Black.”

  Jacob’s breathing grew heavy.

  “You did know him and you did recognize him that day,” Nora said. “So why did you lie?”

  “I...” Jacob couldn’t bear to meet her eyes.

  “Answer me, Jacob. Why did you lie?”

  Sighing, he said, “I panicked. Yes, I recognized him immediately. I’d just read Great-Great-Grandma Maria’s diary and I remembered him saying something to me about family history earlier that day. I knew it had to be connected somehow. I don’t know why I didn’t tell the truth. I just didn’t want to believe that… that...”

  “That someone had murdered Bobby,” Nora said.

  Jacob hung his head. “I know it was cowardly of me. But, honestly, until Ramona died, I just did not believe that Bobby’s death was anything but an accident. There was no proof!”

  “True,” Nora said. “There was no real concrete proof. Not until the killer panicked and targeted Ramona. The suicide note is a thin cover, easily seen through.”

  “No,” Viola spoke up, her voice bitter. “It was genius. If Ramona hadn’t been on the phone with you and Grace, then it would have worked. The killer was just…unlucky.”

  “True.” Nora nodded. “But let’s go back to what confused me about Bobby’s death. None of you seemed to have a motive, and almost all of you seemed to have an alibi, with the exception of Jacob.” Nora turned to him. “Now, tell the truth Jacob. When you went to see Ramona that night, she didn’t just hand you the diary, did she? She tried to make you stay longer.”

  Jacob shifted uncomfortably. “Well...”

  “The truth!” Nora said.

  Jacob nodded. “She was trying really hard to keep me there. To the point that I started feeling uncomfortable. Grace always told me that Ramona had a crush on me, but I never believed it until then. We were only friends, I thought.”

  “Man.” Lucas laughed. “You are so oblivious sometimes.”

  “Yeah, well, as soon as I’d read the diary, I bolted,” Jacob said. “I couldn’t bear to be around anyone. I wanted to be alone.”

  “Yes,” Nora said. “How long did it take you, in total, from leaving home to getting back?”

  “Maybe half an hour,” Jacob said.

  “Enough time for our killer to get away. Almost,” Nora said. “I think the killer had anticipated having at least another fifteen minutes. That would have given them enough time to get rid of some crucial evidence, I think.”

  “What evidence?” Jacob looked baffled.

  Nora shook her head. “Here’s the thing,” she said. “It always baffled me that each of you had good alibis. Chief Andrews would have been hard pressed to prove any of you did it. I kept wondering if that was a coincidence…until Ramona called Grace. That call confirmed something to me. The killer had been working with Ramona all along. The killer had engineered these alibis.”

  “Lies!” Sophia shot up off her chair. “My Ramona would never work with a killer. Never!”

  “Ramona didn’t know what she was going to do,” Nora said. “You’re right about that, Sophia. She was fooled. She thought she was just playing a prank.”

  “What kind of a sick prank—” Lucas muttered.

  “Which made me think about you, Lucas.” Nora said. “You claimed that you were knocked out by all the wine you’d had at the party. But that’s not true! In fact, the last drink you’d had was a coffee at Ramona’s house. Coffee’s supposed to wake you up but, in your case, it didn’t. Because Ramona had added a sleeping pill to it. That’s why you were knocked out.”

  “But why?” Lucas looked baffled.

  “The question of why kept coming back to haunt me, too,” Nora said. “Family history? Viola had said it herself at Thanksgiving dinner: the past is unimportant, the future is what matters. Nobody would kill a man for the sake of a murder that occurred a hundred years ago. That was when it hit me. Bobby Black wasn’t talking about family history. He didn’t even know about Dina Smith’s misdeeds. No. Someone else gave Ramona that diary, as a distraction. A red herring. Bobby Black was talking about his own family history.”

  “What?” Jacob stared at Nora, his mouth open. “I thought Ramona was at Bobby’s dance studio so I assumed—”

  “Yes,” Nora said. “Ramona put it all together before any of us. And she paid a dear price for it.”

  “But none of this makes any sense!” Jacob said.

  “It does, if you look at it the right way,” Nora said. “Like I said before, Bobby Black’s death wasn’t the beginning of the story. From the murderer’s point of view, it was the end. The murderer was desperate for a certain secret not to be revealed. Desperate enough to kill.”

  “Stop talking in circles!” Lucas exclaimed. “Tell us the story straight out. Who killed Bobby Black and why?”

  Viola got up, her eyes blazing. “I did,” she said.

  *****

  Chapter 25

  The Truth At Last

  “Mom?” Lucas’ eyes brimmed with tears. “No. Not you. Anyone but you.”

  “It can’t be,” Jacob said.

  “It’s true,” Viola said. “This cursed woman has figured it all out. Haven’t you?”

  “Not exactly,” Nora said. “But I’m guessing that if we take a DNA sample from Kaylee, we’re going to find out that Bobby Black was her father all along.”

  “No.” Jacob put a hand over his mouth. “No!”

  “It’s true,” Viola said. “Annie always claimed Kaylee’s father was a soldier who’d been deployed and died overseas. I believed her, like a fool. But you know what a party girl Annie was. She met and had a relationship with Bobby Black just before he got into a bar fight and was sent off to jail.”

  “Oh, Annie.” Jacob shook his head.

  “She told me the truth eventually,” Viola said. “But when she died herself, I chose to forget it. After all, I didn’t want Kaylee influenced by a man like that. I love her. I want the best for her. You all know her, she’s a little angel.”

  “You killed him?” Lucas was rubbing his ears as if he’d heard wrong. “I can’t believe this. Mom, there were other ways!”

  “No, there weren’t,” Viola said. “When Ramona told Bobby that Kaylee was Annie’s daughter, he guessed the truth. He started trying to corner me every chance he got. I told him I wouldn’t let him have anything to do with Kaylee and…and…he threatened me.”

  “We could have helped!” Lucas said.

  “You think I’d let my sons be exposed to danger?” Viola asked. “Not a chance. I had to handle it on my own, somehow. Legally he was the father. I knew I’d probably end up losing a court case. Even if I didn’t lose, Kaylee would be dragged through an emotionally devastating ordeal. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t. Then, Bobby started escalating. Thanksgiving morning, he tried to corner Jacob. And, when that didn’t work, Bobby called me. He was desperate. He said that it was a day for family and he had none, excep
t Kaylee. He told me he was coming over whether I liked it or not. He said he was going to reveal the truth to everyone. That’s when I was truly pushed over the edge.”

  “That’s why you were so miserable that day!” Lucas exclaimed. “It wasn’t my party.”

  “I couldn’t have cared less about your party,” Viola admitted. “It was Bobby who had made me a nervous wreck. I somehow convinced him to come after midnight. I told him I’d call him when the time was right. I pretended that he’d have a sweet, one-on-one reunion with Kaylee.”

  “But, all along, you were planning to murder him,” Nora said.

  “That’s right,” Viola agreed. Her voice was cold and her eyes almost triumphant. “I did murder him. I took him up the stairs pretending I was taking him to meet Kaylee and, when I’d reached the top, I turned around and pushed him down. I thought I’d have more time to dispose of his body and the evidence but Jacob came home early. So I ran upstairs with the phone and pretended to be asleep.”

  “The phone…” Jacob considered. “What did you do with it?”

  “She painted it pink, stuck unicorn stickers on it and presented it to Kaylee,” Nora said. “No danger of the police finding out that way. Isn’t that right?”

  Viola nodded. “Every other method of disposal was too dangerous. Chief Andrews was watching us like a hawk.”

  “How could you?” Uncle Finley stood up, shaking with rage. “You put all of us in danger! Any of us could have gotten arrested by the police.”

  “No,” Nora said. “She actually made sure you all had alibis. The killer engineered each of your alibis so that she could have time to kill Bobby and so that you’d all be cleared of the crime. That’s where Ramona comes in. I think Viola promised Ramona that Jacob would be hers. Isn’t that right?”

  Viola nodded. “I had to think quick. I’d had that diary for a long time. I gave it to Ramona. I told her to ask Lucas to walk her and Sophia home, and then put a sleeping pill in his coffee. That worked. Lucas was out like a light once he came home, and that was his alibi. I thought Eugenie and Dave would take their sleeping pills, too. But Eugenie didn’t. Otherwise she’d have been cleared, too. As for Finley—”

  “You sent me out,” Finley said, realization dawning. “You pretended to have an upset stomach and sent me to the pharmacy. I remember now. You deliberately asked me to go to the one farther away, saying that they had the brand you liked. You did that so I’d take more time to come back.”

  “Correct.” Viola nodded.

  “And me?” Jacob asked.

  “You were how Viola convinced Ramona to play this ‘prank’,” Nora said. “She dangled you like bait. She probably told Ramona it was necessary to have Lucas asleep so you wouldn’t bring him along, hence the sleeping pill. Then she could call you about the diary and the two of you would be alone for nature to take its course.”

  “Mom!” Jacob stared at her.

  “It’s true.” Viola shrugged. “I hoped to kill two birds with one stone. I never liked you and Grace together, you know that. I thought maybe this way, you’d cry on Ramona’s shoulder and love would bloom.”

  “Of all the stupid—” Jacob squeezed his eyes shut. “You should have known better, Mom. Grace is the woman I love. I told you that over and over.”

  Viola shrugged. “I know you, my son. I know you better than you know yourself.”

  “No!” Jacob exploded. “No, you don’t. You always do this. You try and make decisions on my behalf when you have no right to. You did the same thing with Kaylee. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Kaylee would have liked to know her father, no matter what his past was? Bobby Black had a bad past, but he was working on himself. He’d sobered up. He’d started his own business. Maybe he’d have been a good influence on Kaylee.”

  “You can’t believe that!” Viola exclaimed. “He would have taken her away from us!”

  “No court would have let an ex-convict take Kaylee away from us,” Jacob said. “Kaylee would have had the best of both worlds. She would have stayed with us, and yet known her own father. You didn’t just murder Bobby, Mom. You robbed Kaylee of her birthright! What you did was evil.”

  “I love you!” Viola had tears in her eyes. “I love you and I love Kaylee. I did this all for her sake.”

  “If you love her at all, you’ll never say that again,” Jacob said. “She’ll have a lifetime of guilt following her about if she finds out.”

  “I—I can’t breathe,” Viola said quietly. “It isn’t true. I did the right thing. I made the tough decisions because nobody else could. I tried to keep the rest of you safe—”

  “Oh, did you?” Jacob asked. “Or was your eventual plan to get rid of Grace by accusing her of the crime? Huh, Mom? You accused Nora the other day, after all.”

  “I...” Tears were streaming down Viola’s cheeks. She shook her head, unable to speak.

  “And my daughter?” Sophia stood up, her voice hoarse. “You killed my daughter! And then you held me, comforted me, knowing that you had killed the most important person in my world?!”

  “I’m truly sorry about that,” Viola said, sobbing. “I didn’t mean to kill Ramona. I didn’t want to kill Ramona. I told her we’d make sure she married Jacob. I told her that she’d inherit the Giordano fortune. But once she figured out what I’d done, she was obstinate. She wanted to confess. She went crazy. She even talked about calling Grace and telling her everything. She knew Jacob would certainly not believe her.”

  “That’s why she called Grace instead of me!” Jacob whistled.

  “I knew I had to get rid of her, then,” Viola said. “Again, for Kaylee’s sake.”

  “No. For your own,” Sophia hissed. “You evil witch.”

  “And Dad?” Lucas asked, staring at his mom. “That hiking trip you went on all those years ago. People were right all along, weren’t they?”

  Viola stared at Lucas, shocked. “You don’t think I actually killed your father? Why, I loved him! No! That was a tragic accident.”

  “You told me someone might have followed you,” Lucas said.

  “I had to say something to get you back,” Viola said. “You simply wouldn’t believe that it truly was an accident that had killed your father. So I invented a mysterious assassin. At long last my son would look at me without doubt in his eyes. How could you, Lucas? I could bear for other people to suspect me. But you?”

  “Maybe I always knew what you were capable of,” Lucas said in disgust.

  “Whatever I did, I did out of love,” Viola said. “I never killed your father, Lucas. I only killed Bobby because I had to. For Kaylee’s sake.”

  “And Ramona?” Sophia screamed. “You took my daughter from me! I’ll never forgive you!”

  “Sophia, be reasonable.” Viola turned to her friend.

  “Reasonable? I’ll show you reasonable. You took my child, so now I’ll take yours,” Sophia snarled.

  “What?” Viola looked alarmed.

  Sophia drew a small revolver from her purse and pointed it at Jacob.

  “No!” Viola screamed.

  There was a loud bang as a gunshot reverberated through the house. The flash of light accompanying the bullet had everyone throwing their hands up to cover their eyes. Another loud bang echoed through the library, followed by absolute silence. Seconds ticked by before the world made sense again.

  Nora felt her heart sink as she saw the wreckage in front of her.

  Jacob and Lucas were sobbing over their mother’s body. Viola had thrown herself in front of the bullet that Sophia had intended for Jacob. Her body was still.

  The second body in the room was Sophia herself. Nora felt truly sorry for her. In a way, Sophia had been killed by Viola as surely as her bullet had killed Viola.

  Feeling suddenly dizzy, Nora collapsed into a chair.

  She’d been wrong earlier. It wasn’t only evil that drove men to kill. Sometimes, the road to hell was truly paved with good intentions. Viola had been so blinded by her love for Kaylee t
hat she’d done the unthinkable. And now, here at the end of her path, Nora could only see the destruction and chaos she had left behind.

  Remembering what she’d told Grace on Thanksgiving night, Nora stood up and rolled up her sleeves. For as much as women like Viola created chaos, there would be others like her, ready to work and restore order again.

  *****

  Epilogue

  18 Months Later

  “And now, for the first time ever,” the man announced, “Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Giordano!”

  Claps resounded through the hall as Jacob and Grace emerged from behind the curtain. The band began playing “You Fill Up My Senses” by John Denver and there was a hush as Jacob and Grace began to dance. A spotlight fell upon them as they moved together in perfect harmony, dipping and swaying with the music. Although every eye was upon them, they only seemed to notice each other.

  For the second time that day, Nora felt her eyes well up. The first had been when Jacob and Grace had exchanged vows earlier. They looked so beautiful together, tall and broad Jacob with his slender, yet tough, wife. Nora felt a hand snake around her shoulders and pull her close. She looked at Harvey, whose eyes looked equally misty.

  “They’ll be fine,” Harvey said. “Whatever happens, they’re a good team. And they’ll handle it together.”

  Nora nodded. After the last eighteen months, especially, she felt confident of this.

  Viola and Sophia’s deaths had left a lot of destruction in their wake. But, bit by bit, those left to carry on had created some sort of life together again. The first thing Jacob had done was to apply for guardianship of Kaylee. With Viola gone, he really was the closest family member. He and Grace had talked, too, and had decided that, once married, they would apply to officially adopt Kaylee together.

  The next thing to be done was to manage the rumors and whispers that had spread like wildfire around town. At first, Aunt Eugenie had insisted that they try and suppress the truth. But Jacob had refused. He’d said that doing that in the past had only lead to misery and that this time would be different. So Jacob had held a press conference where he spoke honestly about everything that had happened, all the while with Grace holding his hand.